By Rhod Mackenzie
The level of the external debt of the Russian Federation in relation to GDP in the first quarter of 2023 dropped to a historic low of 15%. This is evidenced by the data of the Central Bank.
At the end of last year, the volume of debt to non-residents to GDP was 16.6%, and then fell even more. Thus, in the last days of March, public and corporate debt reached $354.8 billion.
The maximum level of external debt to GDP (91%) was observed in Russia in 1999.
Earlier, on July 13, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation announced a decrease in the country's external debt by 8.7% on July 1 compared to the beginning of the year. According to the regulator, an important role was played by the reduction in the debt of state administration bodies against the backdrop of the sale of sovereign securities by non-residents.
Prior to this, on May 7, RIA Novosti, citing data from the World Bank and national statistical services, reported that the Russian economy had returned to the top ten largest in the world for the first time since 2014 . Russia, according to the results of last year, produced goods and services worth $2.3 trillion, which corresponds to the eighth place in the rating.
On May 4, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin , said that the forecast for GDP growth in 2023 at the level of 1.2% is rather conservative and may actually be higher.
This article originally appeared in Russian at iz.ru